Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff bring us a thrilling new YA sci-fi futuristic space adventure where the supposed dregs of the Aurora Academy face off against a millenia-old evil that has resurfaced. At the centre of this galaxy-wide drama is Aurora, known as Auri, who Tyler rescues first off from a centuries old transport that was stuck in a space/ time flux. She’s literally over two centuries old but really just 18.

This book was so much fun to read! I thought that the six POV setup would confuse me or leave me desperate to get back to certain characters, but it worked out very well. Finian kept me cracking up with is wiseass comments, Tyler kept proving that flashing his amazing dimples wasn’t the only thing he was good at, same with his twin Scarlett, she was way more than just a pretty face, and my fave of Tyler’s squad, Kal, the tall brooding elvish type who feels compelled to protect and rescue a very special someone over and over, made me wish I was that special person :) Cat’s the cool Ace who flies their spacecraft like it’s a live action video game, and Zila is a trigger-happy sociopath who just might have found her niche group.
This book has it all: a space masquerade, a daring heist, tension, adventure, a surprising kiss you won’t be expecting, strangers who become tight friends, enemies who will scare the bejeezus out of you, and my personal favorite, budding romance :) I can’t wait to get my hands on the next installment.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for allowing me to review this amazing book ☺️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book. This is a wild ride of a story! Both female and male characters are well developed and relatable. I could hand this book to either a girl or a boy and neither would feel like their gender wasn’t well represented in this. That is awesome because recent YA publication trend tends to favor female characters. As a woman I find this so exciting but it does not always interest the guys. Fantastic story! This team hits another home run!

I received a free copy of this book through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Ok, there were a lot of things that I enjoyed and a lot that I really didn't. As always I break my review in three parts. Writing, characters and world building and story and overall enjoyment. Let's begin.
Writing. Unfortunately, writing felt really flat for me. There were 7 POVs and they all blended together. A lot of times I couldn't tell which character is talking, they all sounded the same. It would have been better if there were just two POVs. It's also written in first person which didn't help separating characters' voices.
So let's talk about those characters. Out of 7 only 3 stood out: Aurora, Ty and Kal. Because of constant POV switching we didn't really get to know them that much. I hope we will learn more in the next book.
World building as always with these authors is amazing! They really know how to create a story and add all the details to make it seem real! It wasn't that original, in fact I predicted almost all the plot twists but it was still fun.
So overall, it is a fun book, I feel like younger readers would enjoy it even more than I did. And I have high hopes for the sequel.

This book is absolutely phenomenal! Of course I was expecting it to be since I love both Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman!

One of my favorite things about this book was the characters! I loved these characters so much and I loved watching them grow as a group and individually!

I’m so excited to see where this series goes next.

Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have teamed up again. Lucky for us, because they make an absolutely fantastic writing team. I loved The Illuminae Files, and although I was skeptical that Aurora Rising could be as good, I loved Aurora Rising as well.

I'm not sure what I can say besides this book is awesome, preorder it now! The world building is impressive. I am largely ignorant and uninterested in space in general, but Kaufman and Kristoff manage to make it seem interesting, accessible, and super easy to understand. Their characters, as always, just leap off the page. There are only a handful of authors who can create characters like this, especially ensemble characters. They're all so distinct and diverse and yet so relatable. I love the banter, the complicated relationships, the teamwork. And of course we have some incredibly imaginative and sometimes horrifying, sci-fi/fantasy space danger stuff happening. Kaufman and Kristoff have some amazing imaginations and incredible writing skills.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I cannot recommend this book enough. I laughed out loud, I cried, I was literally on the edge of my seat. I would preorder the sequel right now if I could. Until then I will reread this one....

*I received a free ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

SQUAD. GOALS. That was a wild and awesome ride from start to finish. It's like Stranger Things in space.

Okay, let me just say, that was perfectly paced! I am a huge fan of the dynamic duo of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I love their Illuminae series and this was a highly anticipated read of mine just because they are great together. And it did not disappoint. The plot was really cool, the pacing was perfect, as I said, and the best part, the very best part, was the CHARACTERS!! Oh my gosh, I LOVE squad 312. I thought they were great from the get go, and now that it's over I'm just so impressed. This book is not super long and there are 7 POVs and yet all the characters are well-rounded, nuanced, and wholly unique. I love them all, though my favorites are Kal and Scarlett. A hot, stoic space elf (which is literally the best idea ever), and a flirty, confident woman who can literally charm the shirt off your back. My JAM. As for the others, Cat is a badass, I love her. And Fin is such a lovable asshole, wow. Auri is a GOOF. And Tyler is so smart and charismatic. And Zila is SO WEIRD. They are just great. I loved following them on this crazy space journey. It's so good. The reveal at the end was so interesting, and basically I need them to defeat that thing and get back the people that it stole, thank you, goodnight, and bring on the rest of the trilogy.

*Thank you Random House Children’s publishing group for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spoiler Alert: I absolutely loved this!
(completely non-spoiler review)

Aurora Rising is set in the year 2380 where technology has become very advanced and humans are now cohabiting with other species that were once foreign to humankind. This novel explores the journey of a young group of graduated cadets from Aurora Academy. This group of unwanted individuals must come together to face their biggest obstacle yet. Each member of this squad has an important role to help aid in their journey to come. Together, their chance of survival is stronger; if only they can manage to get along.

The plot for this story is amazing. There were so many unexpected layers to this story that truly made this adventure all the more interesting. I have such an appreciation for the characters in this squad. I love the incorporation of different categories for each individual and how this is done to help design a perfect team. I also found the irony of this process with how the characters do come together to be quite a nice inclusion.

It is a bit hard for me to review this book without giving any hints of spoilers. I will say I do not recommend reading lots of reviews due to certain inclusions in the story possibly being spoiled. If the reader has any inkling of the major revelations in the plot, I fear they will not have as good of an overall experience for this story. It is truly amazing after all.

Overall, I adored this book to the fullest. Kal is my new book boyfriend. Dibs.

A misfit team of recent Aurora Academy recruits find themselves on an unexpected adventure after a young girl is rescued from a centuries old transport vessel.

I was a HUGE fan of Kristoff and Kaufman's The Illuminae Files trilogy - recommending it at least a hundred times to patrons at my library. Their adept world-building and unique storytelling left me eager to get my hands on Aurora Rising. Set in a distant future, this series starter felt similar in tone to Illuminae with a perfect mixture of thrills and humor. But the strength of the book rests on Squad 312 - that band of misfits who are the heart and soul of the story. Each complicated and flawed with well-defined personalities and motivations.

Book one was a wild ride filled with moments reminiscent of the cantina in Star Wars and the camaraderie of Firefly.

“I look around the bridge at my crew. Squad 312. This pack of losers and discipline cases and sociopaths, these misfits that nobody in the whole of Aurora Academy wanted to get paired with. And I realize the magnitude of what we just pulled off.”

So I know I say this after I finish just about any good book I like, but for real right now, THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER!

Holy emotional rollercoaster. I just finished literally seconds ago and I am in such a state of awe and distress that I have no idea how I am going to wait so long for the next book to continue. MY.HEART.HURTS

I smiled ear to ear, laughed out loud, and had an emotional breakdown all in such a short amount of time that I think it’s safe to say this is one hell of a good book and... full disclosure... I’m 100% not even a fan of sci-fi really but loved every single second of this one.

Amie and Jay have pulled off another incredible story that may actually be hard to top for them *gasp* how could it get any better?!

WELL THEN.

This was a sprint from start to finish. I couldn't set it down!

It starts off with Tyler rescuing a mysterious girl (Aurora) from a long-lost spaceship. She's the only survivor out of ten thousand passengers. While he's busy rescuing Aurora, Tyler misses the chance to draft desirable squad members and gets stuck leading a group of misfits that nobody else wanted.

Aurora is the catalyst that sets off something bigger, stronger, and more frightening than anyone can dream of. The strange group of misfits sets off on a wild goose chase through space in search of answers and find themselves fighting for their lives at every turn.

Honestly, this was so much fun to read. It sprinted at a break-neck pace the whole way through and was impossible to step away from. It's a science-fiction novel filled with monsters, space travel, adventure, conspiracies, loyalty, friendship, and a smidge of romance. It left me breathless (and highly suspicious of my succulents).

The point of view alternates between the seven squad members, which was interesting. It gives readers insight into each character and shows the story from different perspectives.

The other thing I liked about this book is that even though the characters are all 18 or 19, this book is still squarely in the YA realm. So many young adult books are just adult books in disguise, but this one is aimed at teens.

One last thing here. This is one of the very few YA books that treats religion and spirituality with respect. There is a religion unique to the story that the characters have varying degrees of belief in. It's one of those topics that seems largely off-limits in YA, and I thought this author duo did a fantastic job with it. It doesn't play a huge role in the story, but it's refreshing to see characters of religious background (even a fictional one) portrayed in a positive way.

If you love science-fiction and are looking for your next binge-read, pick this one up!

Content: Some cursing and 1 f-bomb, a bit of innuendo, and violence/action/suspense/perilous situations. Movie rating would be PG-13.

Aurora Rising is every sci-fi lover's dream... Space! Attractive aliens! Saving the universe! Relationships! Smartly written with engaging and complex characters, this first-in-a-series draws inspiration from Star Trek to Lord of the Rings (and everything in-between). The story is structured from multiple view-points allowing the reader to delve into each character and see the universe from their perspective. After the first read you won't be able to wait for the next book!

Aurora can't wait to join the explorers on Octavia III -- exploring a new planet, reconnecting with her dad -- everything is finally going to plan as she waits her turn to be cryogenically frozen for the trip aboard the Hadfield.
Two hundred years later top-of-his-class student Tyler rescues Aurora from the Hadfield -- but his heroics have consequences -- he misses the draft. Now left with a less than desirable team, Squad 312 must unravel the mystery of Aurora in order to save the universe.

This book sucked me in immediately with Tyler’s rescue of Aurora and the path it takes him on. But first, lets meet our amazing cast of characters:

–Tyler Jones our fearless leader. Top of his class, smart as hell.

–Scarlett Jones Tyler’s twin sister, Rule breaker, flirtatious, attractive, smarter than she perceives

–Aurora Lie-Jin O’Malley the girl out of time. Our mixed race girl with dreams of traveling beyond the stars – who gets the very real chance when she’s cryogenically frozen for 200 years. Whoops.

–Kaliis “Kal” Idraban Gilwraeth a Syldrathi, the teams combat specialist, originally a warrior and hated by most of his own people, a man out of place with no one to turn too.

–Zila Madran their scientist, likes to make things go boom, and insanely smart.

–Finian de Karran de Seel – a Betraskan, a species that has a family tree I can’t even begin to understand. The techy of the group and wears a special exo-suit due to nerve damage and muscle weakness. Extremely bisexual.

–Cat – our pilot, Scarlett and Tyler’s childhood best friend and total badass. And she can fly like no other and deserves all the medals.

Our mismatched crew is forced into an unpredictable situation when Aurora is brought into their life. The ever compliant Tyler struggles as he deal with new terrain, no rules, and the crew he never imagined leading.

I loved this book. It was like a space heist novel but without the actual heist. There’s space travel, aliens, and tons of intergalactic espionage as our group travels around the galaxy. And I LOVED the space and intergalactic stuff – the various alien species were so well thought out and amazing that I felt like they were actual known species.

I adored all of our space crew. Aurora and her dated knowledge, confusion, and ability to cope in this new world. Tyler and his awesome badass-ness, Zila and her genius and somewhat awkward personality (who I can’t wait to (hopefully) learn more bout in book 2?), and Cat and her smart-ass comments and confidence.
But I really want to talk about Scarlet, Kal, and Finian. Scarlet is one of my new favorite characters ever. She’s wicked smart, and uses both her brain and her sexuality to showcase her smarts when she finds necessary. She dresses however she wants, does pretty much whatever she wants, and 100% does not care what anyone thinks about any of that. She also has 50 something ex-boyfriends and I love how unashamed she is about that fact. There’s no hints of slut-shaming by anyone in her life and its incredible.
Kal is the adorable elvish warrior and I love him so much. His species is so different from humans, any form of physical contact is considered intimate, and the way he interacts in general is so different than the way humans interact. I enjoyed the chapter from his perspective so much, they showcased how different he was, but also how similar he ends up being.

And no spoilers, but the romances are ADORABLE AND PRECIOUS. I love them (and there’s no instalove!)

I know I’ve barely talked about the plot and only the storyline, but I truly feel like this is one that I couldn’t do justice by talking about the plot. There’s just so much going on and so much I never saw coming. But I loved every single second of it.

*full review will be available on my blog closer to please date

Perfect for fans of YA space opera / space fantasy. I absolutely loved this book. It was everything I possibly could've wanted from the start of a new a sci-fi space fantasy series: space academies tasked with keeping the peace, government conspiracies, alien races, a ragtag cast of characters, a girl woken up from cryo-sleep after 200 years on a missing spaceship, strange space travel, mysterious powers. It's got it all!

Tyler Jones is top of his class at Aurora Academy, set for the pick of his team at the upcoming Draft. But when he answers a distress call for a ship that went missing in the Fold 200 years ago, he saves the one remaining survivor--a teenage girl--and misses his chance. Left with the dregs of the recruits, he's sent off on a aid mission with a team that can barely get along. Things get complicated when he realizes that Aurora--the girl he saved--stowed away on the ship. And it seems that the Terran government is hell-bent on getting her back. What are the humans hiding? And, moreover, are Tyler and his team willing to commit treason and risk everything for a girl they just met?

If you loved Illuminae, you definitely need to read this book. Really, if you love YA sci-fi at all, you should read this book.

If you've read the Illuminae Trilogy, this book is in the same ballpark as those books. It's a space fantasy that's amazing and full of wit and humor that comes with a Kristoff/Kaufman book. The characters are all unique and their personalities are amazing. The relationships that each character has with one another are realistic. Everything about this book is amazing. There's even an AI named Magellan that inserts more humor and backstory/information regarding events that have occurred in the world. Buy this book immediately upon release.

Well, folks. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have done it AGAIN. Seriously, is there anything these two can't do? The story was so unique and utterly intriguing I can see so many book refrences like The Expanse (Leviathan Wakes by James S.A Corey) involving amazingness and (secret thing I cant say) and of course a bond of witty friendship with a mix of espionage like Six of Crows. This book is truly a mix of everything I love and everything that is awesome.

Aurora Rising is one of my most anticipated releases of this year. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff blew my mind with the Illuminae Files trilogy and I’m a HUGE fan of Jay Kristoff so it was only natural for me to be excited about their new foray together.

As you can see from the synopsis of this book it’s another sci-fi novel set in space with a huge cast of characters. It’s similar to the Illuminae Files but it’s different enough that fans of that series will walk in with some familiarity but walk out gobsmacked with what Jay & Amie have done with this new world (universe?). As always, the characters are fantastically written and instantly make you love them, the world building is gorgeous and makes you clamor for more, and the plot is wonderful!

However, I found a LOT of similarities between this and the movie Serenity, which is a continuation of the Firefly series. Rag tag team of outlaws? Check. Chick in cryo? Check. Super powered girl that the government is after? Check. Super secret world that no one knows about? Check. Add in a few more elements that are spoilers for the book and you’ve got yourself a literary version of Serenity. Am I complaining? Hell no!

There’s a lot of nods to previous avenues of sci-fi. If you’re a fan or even a casual follower, you will notice nods to Starship Troopers, Star Trek: New Generation, and Red Dwarf. You will even notice little wink wink nudge nudge nods to The Princess Bride, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Aladdin. Not to mention the 80′s classic The Breakfast Club, which I think heavily influenced the character cast. These are the only nods that I caught, but knowing how much Jay & Amie like to toss them into their work, I can only imagine how many more there are that I didn’t catch.

As always, Jay & Amie provided their own spin on it and really allowed the novel to soar on it’s own. What really stands out is the cast of characters. Tyler, the Alpha; Scarlett, the Face; Cat, the Ace; Finian, the Gearhead; Kal, the Tank; Zila, the Science; and finally, the namesake for the book, Aurora, our fish out of water. Each character gets their own POV (I KNOW, IT’S A LOT), though Zila only really shows up a small handful of times, and you will grow to love each and every one of them throughout this adventure. Characters are really the bread and butter for Jay & Amie’s novels, I think, because they write such good interactions, dialogue, and growth for their characters.

Personally, I loved Finian, Kal, and Magellan, a smart mouthed AI on a tablet who’s basically next gen Alexa, the most. Aurora, in my opinion, wasn’t really fleshed out as much as she could have been. To me, she seemed more like the typical YA trope of ‘super special YA heroine’ but I know that Jay & Amie have more in store for her so I’m reserving judgement for now. Zila, a black character who I think is on the Autism spectrum but wasn’t confirmed in story, didn’t really get a lot of her own POV in book, but I really did enjoy what we got from her. Magellan was fantastic and I really think it speaks volumes for Jay & Amie as authors that they can make you care so much for an AI character.

There was a hint of romance in this story but it was really a blip in the storyline. It kinda reminded me a little bit of the whole Twilight imprinting thing BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY, I PROMISE! The pairing shocked the heck out of me considering the most commonly used YA trope is that the first guy our heroine sees is usually her HEA. Not to mention, the two characters don’t even get together in this book. There’s literally no relationship execution in this book, but a promise of what could happen and I honestly really enjoyed that addition.

The plot itself, as I said, wasn’t too original. It’s something we’ve seen before and flew so closely to Serenity that I wasn’t all that surprised with how things turned out. If you watch that movie and then read this book you’ll see a lot of comparisons between the two that will sorta kinda make you expect things to happen in the book and then not be surprised when they do happen. The pacing was really well done. There were enough lull moments that when the action hit I flew through it with a lot of anticipation and worry. The ending, as usual, ended with a loud bang and left me severely wanting more.

All in all, this book is a wonderful add on to the YA sci-fi genre and I am so glad I got to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m definitely jonesing for some more from this squad!

I will post my review close to publication but this book was AMAZING! I loved squad 312 and need more of them. Can't wait for the next book in the series.

This was such an improvement to the Illuminae files, I feel like. I guess I just don't get along with novels that are put in weird formats like case files and such. This was a solid foundation to what I think is going to be an enjoyable series.

You know you’ve read an exceptionally good book when you relish the idea of writing your review as soon as you’re done because you want to impress upon everyone the exact emotions you were feeling as soon as you’ve reached the last page. Guys. I know we’re only a quarter of the way through 2019 but I’ve read some damn good books so far. This….is one of the best. As much as I loved <i>Finale</i> this might honestly have been better. I’ve wanted to get my hands on this book since it was first announced. I loved the <i>Starbound</i> trilogy by Kaufman and Spooner and also ate up <i>The Illuminae Files</i> which was by the same two authors who also crafted this gem of a book. In both series, I loved their take on the distant future and their incredibly addicting writing. The characters were unforgettable and there was always at least one relationship that had me swooning and dying for more. Based on ALL of that, THIS BOOK LIVED UP TO EVERYTHING I HOPED AND DREAMED IT WOULD BE.

Premise wise this book is about Tyler—a star squad leader who is about to get his dream cadet picks at the Aurora Academy and spend his life doing good and keeping peace in the ‘Way….until the complete opposite happens…kind of;

It’s about Scarlett, who only joined the Academy to stick with her twin brother, Tyler, and who is the mother hen of the group while also having killer wit and sarcasm;

It’s about Cat, Ace pilot, tomboy, not-so-secretly in love with her best friend who might also happen to be squad leader;

It’s about Kal, hot Legolas lookalike alien who has anger problems and may be the new love of my life;

It’s about Zila, trigger happy, very quiet, possible sociopath but also possibly there is a lot more to her than meets the eye and I’m interested to learn more???;

It’s about Finian, ALSO SUPER SARCASTIC, alien, techie boy who loves giving his squad shit whenever possible about whatever possible;

And finally, it’s about Aurora, or Auri, who was stuck in cryo-freeze on a missing ship for the past two hundred years and finds out she was the only one who survived and that she now has confusing new powers when she wakes up.

AGAIN, this is another one that’s been likened to SOC but other than the fact that it’s a group of misfits, it’s entirely its own thing. Each character has POV chapters but they never felt disjointed. I knew exactly who each one was immediately and loved each one immediately. What I’m trying to say is that Squad 312 is my new ~squad~ and I would die for each and every one of them. *sobs*.

This book was intense in a way that I had forgotten sci-fi could be. I don’t read a ton of it but when I do it strikes me that same way every time. I mean there’s the magnitude of Auri waking up TWO HUNDRED YEARS after she was put into cryo-sleep, knowing that life as she knew it is completely different and everyone that she had ever known and loved is dead. There’s the fact that a character dies and the incident ripped my heart out and stomped all over it and I was sitting there crying in my car trying to hide it so my husband wouldn’t ask and then make it worse hahaha. I guess I’ve been reading too many romances or something. But I took it hard. HARD I TELL YOU. And the mystery of the story itself was one of the most gripping that I have read in a long time. I am dying for the next few books. Dying to see how certain characters grieve and heal. Dying to see how certain relationships blossom. And most importantly, dying to see how the universe is saved from sure destruction.

Do yourself all a favor and pick this book up when it comes out. I give it my highest of recommendations.

I went into this book with high expectations after reading Illuminae and I was not disappointed. There is never any time wasted with Amie and Jay. Getting to the point, they jump into the mysteries of Aurora Academy.
There were so many moments I was confused and sure of what was happening but then again so was the team. Taking the reader for a tailspin, it is like being there any going through each of the revelations along with them. My favorite part (SPOILER) was on the Sempiternity during the masked ball. The way they reacted was as if the reader was being fooled along with the leader of this world.
Mystical and action packed, this takes par to their previous work together. I’m already itching to get back into the world once more. They make the heart ache always by the end of the book. An ending which, in retrospect, I should have seen coming yet was still upset over the fact of it happening. Knowing them, there may not be that happy twist of events to make it better. Always worth the five stars.